Huntsville City Schools Superintendent candidate Katrise Perera meets with a group of leaders from the community, parent volunteers, local education nonprofits and Board of Education members at the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce on Jan.17, 2017. (Bob Gathany/bgathany@AL.com)

(Bob Gathany)

Dr. Katrise Perera, the first to interview for Huntsville's open superintendent job, did not mince words when it came to the district's digital initiative.

"Teachers who do not utilize technology in their classrooms will be replaced by teachers who can do it well," she told the board. "That, I can say."

The interview, held Tuesday during a special called board meeting, came after a full day of meetings and tours.

The first question in the interview addressed the controversial Digital 1:1 initiative implemented by former superintendent Casey Wardynski, which replaced classroom textbooks with laptops or iPads for each student.

Perera, who implemented a similar initiative in a small Virginia school district where she served as superintendent, said she values "seamlessly" integrating technology into the classrooms.

"It has to be more about the student than it is about the Apples and the apps," she said. She said she has seen districts worry more about the devices than the educational outcome. In the best initiatives, she said, teachers help students "utilize this technology to be innovators, creators, not just consumers."

It's a point she reiterated later when talking about teacher retention.

"We're 1:1," she said. "You don't want to hire someone who wants to teach to that textbook. They will be unhappy and they'll leave soon. Make sure you're hiring for what you expect...(someone) who's willing to make adjustments every day, not just every month or after an evaluation."

Perera is currently the national director of urban markets at McGraw Hill Education.

Prior to that, she served four years as superintendent for a Virginia school system of about 6,400 students. By comparison, Huntsville City Schools has about 24,000 students and a staff of 2,500.

When asked by board president Elisa Ferrell if she felt she had the experience to run a much larger school system, she pointed to her year of experience as an area superintendent in charge of a cluster of schools in the Houston Independent School District in Texas. That district as a whole has 210,000 students, 80% of who are economically disadvantaged.

Huntsville's complicated history with alternative schooling came up during the interview, when Ferrell asked Perera whether school systems should provide alternative school for students with disciplinary problems.

It's been a contentious subject since last fall, when former Superintendent Casey Wardynski abruptly resigned after admitting to a romantic relationship with the CEO of Pinnacle Schools, a company contracted by the system to run its alternative school. When the Huntsville school board voted to cancel its contract with Pinnacle over concerns that Pinnacle billed for services that weren't in its contract, Pinnacle CEO Karen Lee - Wardynski's fiance - sued the school system. The district settled the lawsuit in December.

Perera didn't mention Pinnacle by name, but drew murmurs from the crowd when she said she believes the most effective alternative schooling programs are provided by the school system - not an outside company.

"If you're outsourcing instruction to someone you don't know, that you don't have control of the curriculum, then you can expect your outcomes to be mediocre at best," she said. "You cannot bring students who cannot succeed in a comprehensive school, bring them to an alternative setting, put them in front of a computer and say, 'Click away, you're learning.' Not happening."

Perera said the school system needs to provide alternative-school students with a variety of "wraparound services" including counseling, tutoring and mental health services. It's also imperative to budget appropriately for those services, she said.

Perera had less to say when asked about her understanding of the district's federal desegregation order, and its consent decree with the Department of Justice.

She admitted she doesn't have experience working with the DOJ but said she has read the consent order and has spent time addressing equity in schools during her career.

Perera began her career as a teacher in Charlottesville, Va. but was born and raised in Louisiana. She spoke during the interview about lessons she learned as a child from her grandmother. She keeps one of her grandmother's "Sunday best" aprons in her office to remind her of her history.

Perera was named Superintendent of the Year by the National Association of School Superintendents. She's active on Twitter at @akperera, tweeting mainly about education topics. She said in her application that she believes in building a culture "built on trust, transparency, clear and frequent two-way communication."